In the quiet hills of Jammu and Kashmir, a nineteen-year-old named Sheetal Devi has been recognized by World Archery as Para Archer of the Year 2025 — an honor that arrives not merely as a trophy, but as a reckoning with what the human body and spirit are capable of. Born without arms, she draws and releases her bow using her feet, legs, and shoulders, and in doing so became the first and only female armless archer to claim gold at the World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. Her recognition is a reminder that the boundaries of achievement are rarely fixed — they are simply wa
Sheetal Devi Named World Para Archer of the Year 2025
Everything this journey has held
Mark
When you say she uses her feet and legs to draw the bow, what does that actually look like? How does the mechanics work?
Mimi
She positions the bow with her feet and uses her legs and shoulder to create the tension needed to draw it back. It's not improvisation—it's a refined technique, practiced thousands of times until it becomes muscle memory, just like any other archer's form.
Mark
The gold in Gwangju was historic because she was the first female armless archer to win it. But does that distinction matter to her, or is it just what the record books say?
Mimi
Both, probably. The record matters because it opens doors for others who thought those doors were closed. But for her, the gold itself is what matters—the competition, the precision, the years of work that led to that moment.
Mark
She's nineteen. That's young for someone at the absolute peak of their sport. What comes next for her?
Mimi
That's the question everyone's asking. She's already won at the world level and the Paralympics. The trajectory suggests she'll keep pushing—more championships, more medals. But at nineteen, she's also just beginning.
Mark
The Arjuna Award is India's highest sporting honor. Does that change how people see her, or does it just confirm what they already knew?
Mimi
It validates her at the national level in a way that international medals sometimes don't. It says: this is not just a remarkable story. This is an elite athlete.
The Pulse
- A teenager born without arms has not only competed at the world's highest level of para archery — she has dominated it, winning gold, silver, and bronze at a single World Championships.
- Her technique — drawing a compound bow with her feet, legs, and shoulder — challenges every assumption about what athletic mastery requires, unsettling the sport's imagination of itself.
- The accumulation of honors is striking in its breadth: a Paris Paralympics bronze, Asian Para Games silver, Asian Championships silver, an Arjuna Award, and now the sport's most prestigious annual recognition.
- World Archery's decision to name her among eight category winners places her formally in the company of the world's elite, a peer to athletes who have spent lifetimes perfecting their craft.
- Her own response on social media carried no performance — only the unguarded weight of a young woman acknowledging an improbable journey and the sacrifice it demanded.
In the quiet hills of Jammu and Kashmir, a nineteen-year-old named Sheetal Devi has been recognized by World Archery as Para Archer of the Year 2025 — an honor that arrives not merely as a trophy, but as a reckoning with what the human body and spirit are capable of. Born without arms, she draws and releases her bow using her feet, legs, and shoulders, and in doing so became the first and only female armless archer to claim gold at the World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. Her recognition is a reminder that the boundaries of achievement are rarely fixed — they are simply waiting for someone willing to redraw them.
Sheetal Devi, nineteen years old and from Jammu and Kashmir, has been named Para Archer of the Year 2025 by World Archery — a recognition that follows a season that quietly rewrote what seemed possible in her sport.
She was born without arms. Using her feet, legs, and shoulder, she has refined a technique of drawing and releasing a compound bow into something the world now measures against the highest standards. At the World Para Archery Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, she won gold in the women's compound individual event, becoming the first and only female armless archer to claim that title. She also took silver in the women's team event and bronze in the mixed team — a sweep that revealed not a single peak performance, but a sustained and deepening excellence.
Her record extends well beyond 2025. A bronze from the Paris Paralympics, silvers from the 2022 Asian Para Games and the 2023 Asian Championships in Bangkok, and India's Arjuna Award have each marked a step in her steady ascent. World Archery, which has presented its annual awards since 2011, cited her breakthrough season and noted that the honor recognizes exceptional athletes for excellence, fair play, and dedication.
When she responded on social media, there was no careful distance in her words — only gratitude, emotion, and the honest acknowledgment of everything the journey had cost and given her. Her name now sits in the official record of the sport's excellence, not as an exception to be marveled at, but as a standard by which achievement will be measured.
Sheetal Devi, nineteen years old, from Jammu and Kashmir, has been named Para Archer of the Year 2025 by World Archery. The recognition arrives on the heels of a season that rewrote what seemed possible in her sport.
Devi was born without arms. She draws her bow and releases her arrows using her feet, legs, and shoulder—a technique she has refined into world-class precision. Last year in Gwangju, South Korea, she won gold in the women's compound individual event at the World Para Archery Championships, becoming the first and only female armless archer to claim that title. It was a breakthrough moment, the kind that changes how people think about what a body can do.
The gold medal was not her only haul from the championships. She also took silver in the women's team competition and bronze in the mixed team event, a sweep of medals that underscored the depth of her skill. Her résumé extends beyond that single season. She holds a bronze from the Paris Paralympics in the mixed team category, silvers from the 2022 Asian Para Games and the 2023 Asian Championships in Bangkok. She is an Arjuna awardee, India's highest sporting honor. The accolades have accumulated steadily, each one a marker of incremental mastery.
World Archery, the sport's international governing body, cited her breakthrough 2025 season when announcing the award. The organization noted that the honor recognizes exceptional athletes and officials for their excellence, fair play, and dedication. This year's awards spanned eight categories, from Archer of the Year—won by Emircan Haney of Turkey—to Young Archer of the Year, claimed by Baptiste Addis of France. Devi's win placed her among the world's elite para athletes, a peer to competitors who have spent their careers perfecting their craft.
Devi herself posted a response on social media, her words carrying the weight of what the moment meant to her personally. She wrote of gratitude and emotion, of everything the journey had held. The award, she said, felt deeply personal. There was no distance in her language, no performance of humility. Just acknowledgment of the work, the sacrifice, the improbable path that had brought her to this point.
The World Archery Awards have been presented annually since 2011, a tradition of celebrating the athletes and support staff who define each international season. They are not given lightly. That Devi's name now appears among the recipients—that her face and story are now part of the official record of excellence in her sport—marks a shift in what the world recognizes as achievement. She has not simply competed at the highest level. She has redefined the boundaries of what competition looks like.
Notable Quotes
Nominated alongside the best para archers in the world and now named the best para archer—this one feels deeply personal. A heart filled with gratitude, with emotion, with everything this journey has held.— Sheetal Devi, on social media
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